After a year of renting time on the Gammill longarm quilting machine and spending some serious time in hands-on research I have finally decided what machine to order. Earlier this week I ordered an APQS Freedom 26" longarm as well as the IntelliQuilter (IQ) robotics system to go with it. Oh my goodness this is so exciting. There's quite a few things that I need to do to get ready for its arrival. First on the list is to switch out the master bedroom for the empty spare room. Freddie is coming with a 12' table that just won't fit in the spare room. It's too small by just a few inches, darn! Luckily Steve is a great guy and has agreed that it can live in the master bedroom. Yay!
It sounds like Freddie will be here for a couple weeks before the IQ can be installed so I'll probably pick up at least one paper pantograph pattern so that I can work on some charity quilts while waiting for the robotics. I do want to improve my free-motion quilting (FMQ) skills as well so that will be time well spent.
It's going to be fantastic being able to quilt at home. This won't be just for my own quilts. It's just too big of an investment for that luxury. I've been looking for something to do as a home-based business since I stopped working as a swimwear designer. But the business couldn't be just anything. It needed to be something that my creative skills and eye for design would work as bonuses. Of course I have known about quilting machines since I was a 13-year old visiting my aunt in Springfield, MO. She took me to a company that made stretched longarm machines. I even tried one out. However, until last year when I was doing more FMQ on my DSM (domestic sewing machine) it wasn't a contender for a business. Then I spent quite a bit of rental time quilting those charity quilts and the one for my nephew. Oh my goodness was I hooked. To see a lovely pieced top become a quilt in such a relatively short time was such a great feeling. It felt like a light going off in my head .. of course, quilting at home was the perfect home-based business for me to go into. So I do hope that you're getting those quilt tops ready that you have been waiting to get quilted. I would be happy to turn those tops into fantastic quilts for you.